[Photos] These Are Some of the World Heritage Sites in Peril Because of Climate Change

Some of Earth’s most iconic World Heritage Sites are in peril because of climate change says a UN report released on May 26.

The newly renovated Statue of Liberty is seen, July 3, 1986, in New York Harbor. AP Photo

Some of Earth’s most iconic World Heritage Sites are in peril because of climate change, says a UN report released on May 26.

The report revealed 31 natural and cultural sites in 29 countries that are vulnerable to increasing temperatures, melting glaciers, rising seas, intensifying weather events, worsening droughts, and longer wildfire seasons. The list includes the Statue of Liberty, Venice, Stonehenge, and the Galápagos Islands.

“Some Easter Island statues are at risk of being lost to the sea because of coastal erosion. Many of the world’s most important coral reefs, including in the islands of New Caledonia in the western Pacific, have suffered unprecedented coral bleaching linked to climate change this year. Climate change could eventually even cause some World Heritage sites to lose their status,” said Adam Markham, lead author of the report and Deputy Director of the Climate and Energy Program at UCS (Union  of Concerned Scientists).

The report says environmental changes are contributing to changes in the global landscape, like the melting of polar ice sheets and glaciers, more severe storms, floods and droughts, more and larger wildfires, and changes in species distribution and ecosystems, all of which are impacting World Heritage Sites in different ways.

“The monuments, buildings and archaeological treasures of cultural World Heritage sites, however, usually cannot move and are therefore inextricably tied to locality, place and living cultural practices and traditions,” said the report.

“Cultural resources lose part of their significance and meaning if moved and, once lost, they are gone forever,” it added.

The UN recommends that governments, the private sector, and tourists coordinate their efforts to decrease carbon emissions and protect the “world’s most treasured” sites from adverse tourist activity.

“There is no time to be lost, however, as global temperatures have already risen by 1ºC,” states the report.

These are some of the World Heritage Sites in peril:

India’s Elephanta Caves

Arian Zwegers via Compfight cc